Direct mail spending continues to fall dramatically

Published on March 03, 2009.

New York—The recession, rising postage rates and marketing trends have combined to severely affect direct mail spending in the U.S. Last year, total direct mail spending declined 3%, according to a new white paper by marketing consultancy Winterberry Group.

The report, “A Channel in Transformation: Vertical Market Trends in Direct Mail 2009,” said direct mail spending last year totaled $56.7 billion, down from $58.4 billion in 2007, representing the first drop in total direct mail expenditures in 60 years, according to Winterberry.

The company projects that direct mail expenditures this year will decline 8.6% to $51.8 billion.

The industry that saw the largest decline in direct mail expenditures last year was financial services (mortgages and loans specifically), with spending off 38.8%. Technology (down 16.6%) and travel and leisure (off 4.7%) also declined. Showing increases were telecommunications (up 9.6%) and insurance (up 4.6%).